At present, face guards for sports headgear, such as football or hockey helmets, consist of a shield which can be either of the grill type, consisting of metallic bars, or of the visor type wherein a transparent plastic member extends at least over the viewing portion of the face guard.
In football, a strap extends from both sides of the helmet and supports an intermediate chin contacting element. The strap, when secured to the helmet by means of snaps, serves to tightly maintain the helmet to the head of the wearer. In hockey, there is usually a loose strap extending under the player's chin, the strap being secured again to opposite side snaps on the helmet. In both sports, it has been found that the strap is cumbersome. In football, for example, very often the strap must be unsnapped after each play in order to release the pressure exerted on the player's head. In hockey, the strap must be maintained loose in order to enable the player to remove his helmet for cooling.